A suit is usually a set of outer clothes made of a jacket and a pair of trousers or a jacket and a skirt designed to be worn together. However, a zoot suit differs from other suits’ styles as it consists of an oversized jacket with wide padded shoulders. The trousers are high-waisted with wide legs and a tight cuff. The zoot suits originated from an African American comedy show in the 1930s and were popularized by Jazz musicians, such as Cab Calloway.
Afterward, the suit found its way into the night clubs in New Orleans and Harlem. Long coats with oversized padded sleeves, high waist balloon pants, and pork pie hats characterized the zoot suit (Rossini, 2019). It was instrumental in enabling jazz enthusiasts and musicians to swing and jump to this type of music’s rapidly changing rhythms. Women had their version making it look like they were circumventing the established order, thus challenging femininity notions.
Future revolutionaries like Malcolm X, the black and white working-class, and the Mexican youth used the zoot suit as an informal uniform of protest. During the Second World War, non-Americans had a difficult time surviving in America. Blacks frequently moved north to flee racial discrimination in the south (Rossini, 2019). Their migration to the north led to Mexicans’ migration to the south to replace them as laborers. Figure one below shows an example of a zoot suit.
About 350,000 Mexicans fought in WWII; however, their presence in urban areas was seen as a social danger. The threat later resulted in racial tension between the Mexican youth and the Americans leading to riots (Patterson, 2016). A sense of identity arose from the Mexicans as they struggled for generational values. Fashion became the form of cultural expression for Mexicans leading to the emergence of the zoot suit, especially among Pachucos and Pachucas youths.
The suit became popular among other non-American races, such as Italians, Japanese, and Europeans. It became a racially and ethnically diverse youth culture movement that later spread to some middle-aged groups (Rossini, 2019). The tension between the zoot suitors and military personnel increased during the war, culminating in the famous zoot suit riots (Decades TV Network, 2016). Hundreds of Mexican Americans and other non-Americans were attacked; the cause was not so definite but speculated to result from competition for women.
In the current society, hooded sweatshirts have emerged as popular radicalization objects. In the 1930s, they were designed for football players but later found themselves popular among break-dancers and graffiti artists during the 80s (Patterson, 2016). However, they are being used by the youth as part of gang uniforms. In Liverpool, for instance, wearing of all-black dress code consisting of hoodies, military-like caps, and tracksuit bottoms are the typical gangster look (Rossini, 2019). However, the hoodies’ appearance makes those wearing them to appear as people that may easily break the law. Figure two below shows an example of a hoodie jacket.
In conclusion, comparing the zoot suit to the hoodies, it is evident that hoodies are still conditioned by the social and political society ideals. From this paper, there is no doubt about the influence which fashion has on shaping society and the political dispensation across the globe. In my opinion, the use of zoot suits was a powerful and clear message to the authorities compared to hoodies.
References
Decades TV Network. (2016). Retrospectacle: The zoot suit [Film]. AdRev Publishing. Web.
Patterson, T. (2016). The Politics of the Hoodie. The New York Times. Web.
Rossini, J. D. (2019). Zoot Suit: Event, Moment, and Possibility. Aztlan: A Journal of Chicano Studies, 44(1), 169–175.
StockPhotosArt. (2020). Scary creepy man hiding shadows face stock photo (Edit Now) 737064166. Shutterstock.com. Web.
Victoria and Albert Museum. (2020). Powerdressing: Zoot suits. Vam.ac.uk. Web.